This essay explores how social psychologically the social structure of capitalist inequality has given rise to the Black-White achievement gap. This critical understanding is a reinterpretation of the "burden of acting White" hypothesis, and suggests that research on the achievement gap should focus on how the Black-White achievement gap is more a result of two interrelated epiphenomena, "mismatch of linguistic structure" and "mismatch of linguistic social functions", which result from the class structure in Black America as opposed to a "burden of acting White", the idea that Black students intentionally underachieve because of racialized peer pressure which, culturally, associates academic achievement and success with White Americans. (Contains 1 note.)